


Bonded

by XiDu (orphan_account)



Category: Pawns and Symbols - Majliss Larson
Genre: F/M, Yuletide, challenge:Yuletide 2008, recipient:Sandrine Shaw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-06
Updated: 2010-12-06
Packaged: 2017-10-13 13:12:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/137757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/XiDu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean never thought she'd see Tirax again - but then he came to her rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bonded

With a strange sense of déjà vu, Jean woke to find wreckage twisted around her. She lay flat on the floor, the grille of the deck pressing patterns into her cheek. Dust and debris tumbled from her hair as she struggled to sit upright. Her head swam and she winced at the screech of the klaxons warning of a Code Red.

Smoke wreathed around her, shifting in strange currents as the air-conditioning unit choked and gurgled. The emergency lighting glared down, making her shield her eyes as she forced herself to her feet. A glance at the viewscreen showed nothing but empty space. Whoever had attacked them hadn't stuck around. A hit and run - but who? And more importantly, why?

Jean wiped filthy hands across her face. She hauled a crushed panel and a tangle of piping from the navigator's chair and sat. The lights blinked on the control panel in front of her, numbers and alien letters that at first had no meaning. She stared as the sequence went through its cycle, then realisation forced her into action. It was a countdown - a countdown to when the energy diverted from the warp drive would run to a halt and switch off the life-support systems.

Panic clutched at her insides. Her mind refused to work, but she found herself instigating system checks and scanning the craft for signs of life. Three other Federation scientists had accompanied her on this expedition to the asteroid belt Lucena XVII. They'd been at work or in their quarters when the proton torpedoes blasted them. Jean scanned the crippled ship twice before she accepted she was the sole survivor.

With a heavy heart, she re-routed the power, locking down all but the most important areas of the shuttlecraft. She watched the countdown, numb to emotion. The USS _Daphne_ wasn't due back for another week. The only place she could transport to, even if the ship had enough power to manage it, was the nearest asteroid - and she'd had enough of that barren ball of rock. The expedition had been a success, but not at this cost.

She checked that the data gathered from the asteroid belt was safely encrypted and stored on the ship's computer. Then she opened all comm links and fine-tuned the distress call. Federation ships didn't usually venture out this far. Her hope of rescue was minimal, but still, she had to try. She wouldn't give up until she'd drawn her last breath.

Jean stared out at the blackness of space and waited for death.

Perhaps half an hour passed before a faint crackle sounded over the comm. On the viewscreen, a ship shimmered free of its cloaking device. Jean drew in her breath, her hands grasping the armrests of her chair. A Klingon battle cruiser waited on the other side of the asteroid belt.

Moments later, an officer and two ratings beamed aboard. Jean's gaze went straight to the officer, tall and imposing and utterly implacable. "Tirax!"

He didn't seem surprised to see her. "Human," he said with a nod, his expression blank. "We meet again."

* * * *

Jean examined herself in the mirror set into the door of the closet. It had been almost a year since she'd worn Klingon clothes, and this dress, made of soft, red sparkly material, draped around her body as if it had been made for her. She smoothed a hand over her hip, checking the fit one last time before she sat on the hard bed and slipped her feet into the matching shoes.

She'd forgotten what the heavier gravity of a Klingon ship felt like. When she'd beamed aboard, her movements had been slow, her reactions sluggish. Tirax had summoned the chief medical officer to do a cursory examination, but she'd sent him away. There was nothing wrong with her that a hot, strong mug of _khizr_ couldn't put right.

"Still stubborn," Tirax had said as he'd turned to follow the doctor. He'd paused at the door to her new quarters. "You will dine with me tonight, human."

Jean didn't want to eat with him. She didn't want to be on the same ship as him. He'd made her life hell for the whole time she'd been held as a bond-woman to Commander Kang; he'd constantly hounded her, waiting for the moment she made a mistake. His twin brother Kahlex had been a sadistic bastard, but in Jean's opinion, Tirax was much worse. At least with Kahlex, his penchant for torture was just part of his job. With Tirax, it was personal.

But she knew that to ignore his command was foolhardy in the extreme. She'd taken a hot shower and returned to the main room to find her Federation uniform gone. In its place was the red dress. With no other choice but to eat dinner naked, Jean had put on the outfit.

A guard escorted her to Tirax's quarters. Klingon personnel stared at her as she passed by. She held her head up, trying to squash the butterflies fluttering wildly in her belly. It reminded her of the time Kang had invited her to dinner. He'd wanted more - much more. Would Tirax expect the same?

The guard abandoned her at a door, which slid open when she touched it. She entered the room to find Tirax standing beside the window, looking out. A long table stood in the centre of the room, two places laid at each end. A trolley containing a multitude of covered dishes waited in the corner.

Jean folded her arms across her chest, unwilling to offer anything of herself. Her gaze went to the bottle of wine uncorked upon the table. Two crystal glasses were set beside it. Jittery with nerves at his long silence, she asked, "So, what are you doing hanging around in an asteroid belt?"

"You're still as rude as ever. How charming." Tirax turned from the window and seated himself. He glanced expectantly at the dishes on the trolley then looked at her, his eyebrows raised.

Jean felt her teeth grind. Kang had been the same, expecting her to wait on him like a subservient female. But Kang was the emperor-elect; at least he had a good excuse for his arrogance.

"Lieutenant Tirax..."

"Captain." He smiled, managing to make it look unpleasant.

She snorted in disbelief. "They promoted you?"

"Kang did."

He seemed to be waiting for her reaction. Though shocked, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of enquiring about it. She'd asked Kang to punish him - not to kill him, as was her right to demand, but to spare him. She'd wanted him to know what human forgiveness was like. Perhaps Kang had misunderstood, and rewarded him instead.

"Why are you here?" she asked again, raising her chin.

Tirax surveyed her, his eyes hooded. "The asteroid belt Lucena XVII is as yet unclaimed and therefore neutral territory. All ships are permitted to pass through it."

"But few do." Unthinking, she lifted the cover of one of the dishes and inhaled the rich scent from the roasted meat smothered in _pomfrit_ sauce. "Lucena is the back of beyond, yet here you are."

"And what were you doing there?" he countered.

Jean shrugged. This time, it wouldn't hurt the Federation if she told the truth. She had nothing to hide. "I was senior member of a group investigating the mineral potential of the asteroids."

That got his attention. "Klingon scientists tested the asteroids three decades ago and found nothing worthwhile."

"Yes, well - I did." She dipped a finger in the sauce. It burned her skin and she quickly withdrew it, slipping the fingertip into her mouth to soothe the sting.

Tirax stared at her then looked away. "Serve the food, human."

Jean brought the dishes over to the table. She was hungry; she wanted to eat. She told herself she wasn't obeying Tirax's order but was doing this of her own volition. As if to prove it, she made certain to serve herself the choicest cuts of meat and the crispest vegetables. When she passed the dishes down the table, she shot Tirax a look of challenge, expecting him to comment.

He didn't. Instead, he poured the wine, a dark red with a dense, complex bouquet. He took a sip. "You left Sherman's planet."

She concentrated on her food. "Yes."

"And Aernath?"

"He's still there."

Tirax leaned back in his chair. "As I thought: a union between human and Klingon is impossible."

"It's more than possible." She looked up, holding his gaze. "I should know. I was Kang's second consort and Aernath's lover."

He sneered. "Your status as consort was revoked."

"We divorced by mutual agreement." Jean kept her voice level.

"Was it mutual for Aernath?"

Regret and guilt dragged at her. Aernath had been her friend during those confusing times, the one she'd gone to for comfort when life amongst the Klingons had become too much. He'd looked at her with those amethyst eyes and held her with all the gentleness of a human male. She'd called him her brother, but in the end it had been much more than that. Yet life as his lover hadn't been enough. She'd felt trapped on Sherman's planet, trapped as well by Aernath's love and understanding... and so she'd run, leaving them both behind to take a job on the USS _Daphne_.

But she didn't want to explain any of this to Tirax. Jean ignored his pointed question. "You still haven't told me what you were doing in the asteroid belt."

He gave her a sardonic look, apparently well aware of her attempt at evasion. "I was pursuing a Romulan ship."

"Romulan?" Jean took a slug of wine as she tried to recall the shape of the vessel that had fired on her shuttlecraft. Her memory was hazy, indistinct, but she felt certain the vessel she'd seen on the viewscreen hadn't been a Bird of Prey.

Tirax watched her. "Apparently, the Romulan was chasing another ship. The captain was under the impression the other ship had strayed out of neutral territory and into space currently under claim by the Romulan Empire."

She set down her glass. "You think they were after me? I can assure you, Captain Tirax, I went nowhere near disputed territory. You can check the navigation recordings."

"I'm sure you're telling the truth."

"You believe me?"

His mouth twitched in a smile. "Romulans cannot be trusted. Therefore by default you are the most honest party."

Jean smiled back at him before she caught herself. She looked down at her plate. "What will you do with me?"

"Anything I want."

Her breath caught and her heartbeat accelerated. "You said that once before."

"I remember."

"On Tahrn, in the grove..."

Tirax growled. "I remember, human."

Jean fell silent and stared at him, shaken to her core.

* * * *

The rest of the meal passed in a blur. Jean managed to eat and drink, but polite conversation was beyond her. Tirax made no further effort to speak to her, and so she was relieved when the guard arrived to escort her back to her quarters.

She kicked off the red shoes and unpinned her hair, then twisted one arm behind her back to reach for the zipper on her dress. She'd managed to get it halfway down when a chime sounded and her door slid open.

Tirax entered. He let the door close behind him, then activated the lock.

Jean struggled to draw up the zip. "What do you want?"

He stared at her, his dark eyes unfathomable. "I'm not sure."

Giving up on the zip, she pressed her hands to the front of the dress to stop it from slipping down. "I think you're here for revenge. You hated me. Maybe you still hate me."

"I didn't hate you."

The statement, so softly spoken, threw her into confusion. "What?"

Tirax began to walk towards her, slowly and with purpose. "You bested me in combat on two occasions. Me, a Klingon male twice your size! You damaged my honour and reputation. The anger I directed towards you came from loss of pride. For a Klingon to fail in battle... I needn't tell you the consequences."

Jean had started to back away from him, but now she stopped as a sudden realisation struck her. "That's why Kang appointed you as my guard. It was punishment."

"He has an interesting sense of humour." Tirax grimaced. "He knew I wouldn't touch you while you were under his protection."

"I still am," Jean reminded him. She resumed her retreat until he'd backed her into a corner. Holding on to her Klingon status with as much desperation as she clung to her dress, she said, "He gave me _Theld_ -rights. I'm Kang's _Thelerrin_."

Tirax stopped in front of her. He raised a hand and touched her hair, her face... her bare shoulder where the dress had slipped down. "Maybe so, but those rights can be overturned. Don't you understand, human? I saved your life."

The words hammered at her. She gasped, swaying back against the wall. Dully, she whispered the terms under which Kang had claimed her three years ago. "If a Klingon saves a person's life, she becomes bond-person to the rescuer until he sees fit to release her."

"So you have not forgotten everything you learned from us. Good."

"How long?" Jean tilted back her head to look up at him. Her body trembled, fear and desire mixing together until she felt sick with it. Kang had been demanding, Aernath had been tender... What kind of lover would Tirax be?

She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue and saw the way he stared at her mouth. When she spoke, her voice sounded high and breathless. "Tirax, please. How long will you keep me?"

"Until my pride is assuaged," he said, and bent his head to claim her.

  



End file.
